


Press Packets

by missema



Series: Whatever Words I Say [3]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Vacation, Vineyard, Winery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:07:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22015343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missema/pseuds/missema
Summary: Short/prompt fic collection for Jenna Cousland and Teagan Guerrin.Not in any particular order, but all in the modern AU winery setting of Veraison. The rating will likely go up as more pieces are added.
Relationships: Female Cousland/Teagan Guerrin
Series: Whatever Words I Say [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/443185
Comments: 6
Kudos: 5





	1. A Holiday Nonvintage

Jenna knew that Teagan was upset with her. Most of the time, Teagan was all smoke and fury when he was angry, a lightning strike and thunder with no storm behind it. The first reaction was always the most emotional, and then he thought about it. Once he thought things out, his mind started to reason and see the nuances in situations, he was understanding and usually very good solving whatever had caused the upset.

But he was really very angry at her today, because his initial fury hadn’t broken but had gathered into a rare storm that raged. Everyone at the winery was cowed by his obvious and out of character temper, everyone save for Fatima. Even she was nicer to him, keeping their interactions short and pleasant in deference to whatever was eating him. The dwarf was still her stern self at the end of the day, reminding Teagan that he had an event to host and that he better put his ‘game face on and make some money’.

Last night he hadn’t slept in the bed with her but that was no surprise. Teagan liked space when he needed to think or vent. Disappointed, Jenna woke up alone and got ready for the day. Things had changed so much since she’d taken on her new positions, and that was really what was at the heart of the matter, wasn’t it? Despite his continued silence and obvious upset, Jenna was excited for the day. It made her step lighter as she went to her own office and greeted Tansy with a chipper good morning.

“You’re very happy today! Bann Teagan has been replaced by a bear, as you probably well know, but I thought it best to warn you,” Tansy said, making a face as she told Jenna. Jenna laughed, the sound bouncing off the stone walls of her office as Tansy handed her a hot cup of coffee.

“I know. Was he here this morning?”

“The Bann did come by, but once he saw it was only me here, he left immediately. I asked if he wanted to leave you a message, but he grunted, actually grunted at me and left,” Tansy said, her Orlesian accent making the word _‘grunted’_ sound like the most profane vulgarity. Jenna had to stifle a laugh at how offended Tansy sounded.

“He hasn’t been pleased with me for a while, so I’ve barely seen him,” Jenna admitted.

“Does that mean Bann Teagan hasn’t seen your hair?!”

Jenna nodded. “He’ll see it tonight. It’s not important. What needs doing before I get carted away to be pasted into a dress?”

Tansy gave her a wide, open smile and Jenna was reminded why she’d hired the girl in the first place. It was about giving people a chance, and second chances were rarer than they should be. Once upon a time, she’d been a girl like Tansy, a little fucked up but decent and eager to please. She’d made mistakes too and unlike most people, hers got to be dragged out and put into print whenever someone with access to a computer got angry with her.

“The arlessa sent you a note this morning, delivered by messenger. I also have your other mail and I’ve gone through your early morning emails and prioritized them. I’ve updated your social media for the morning, and I sent a birthday bouquet to your mother,” Tansy rattled off, and Jenna raised an eyebrow, impressed.

“Wonderful work.”

“I want to do well here, my lady,” Tansy said, and her big clear blue eyes were guileless. They held determination and a real desire to please Jenna, to excel at this position. Even though Tansy was only a couple of years younger than herself, Jenna had the urge to ruffle her hair as if she were a child.

“Good, let’s get started then. Can you get my mother on the phone?” Jenna asked and smiled at Tansy. “Then I will likely need to talk to my financial advisor as well, once she starts talking to me. Also, can we make a note to send something to Father? I always feel bad that I forgot so many of his birthdays when I was traveling but not Mother’s, since she always saw fit to remind me that I wasn’t there,” Jenna said and laughed at the memories. Tansy was busy typing the notes she’d asked for, the sound of clacking the only other noise in the tiny office. “Oh and I owe Fatima fifty sovereigns. Tell her if she wants to claim her winnings, she has to come here. If I go to Teagan’s office, I’m giving her fifty sovereigns worth of coppers.”

“What did you bet on?” Tansy asked.

“Teagan. I thought he would have apologized by now, but Fatima was right. We’ll see how tonight goes,” Jenna said, and with that went into her own office and closed the door.

#

The music was too loud, and Teagan felt like he was shouting as he tried to talk to the owner of a new restaurant chain based out of Gwaren. He made a motion to halt the so-called conversation, got out his phone and texted Fatima to take care of it. If Jenna were here, she would have already done it, but he had no idea where Jenna was right now.

Around him the room was filling with people, interested parties of all kinds, private buyers, collectors, restaurants, retailers, and those socialites who just wanted to be seen at their events. They all walked into the lavishly decorated room that was filled with pretty candles and twinkling lights, all in the traditional white and gold that heralded the upcoming First Day holiday. Though the colors were traditional, the decor was decidedly modern. He glanced to his left and took it in, amazed at how much of an impact it made. The tapers and tea lights were all square and thin, held in artfully minimalist gold and glass holders and decorated with a smattering of greenery accenting the mostly white decor. It looked amazing. Jenna had outdone herself this time.

This was their third meet and greet this year, and by far the biggest. This one had been highly anticipated, since their earlier events had sold out and caused a sensation of speculation before they announced this last event for the year. They all tended to be in the winter, not during the busy months of growing and producing. Aurum had grown so much in the past few months that he was frankly struggling to keep up with demand. They had so many new faces on staff, he hardly remembered hiring them all. Teagan turned back to his conversation, apologizing in a yell to the woman that had been waiting for him. She grinned, the lapse forgiven just as the sound on the music markedly died down.

“Oh thank the Maker,” she said, and gave Teagan a wide, true smile. “I hope that was your doing.”

“I hope so too,” Teagan answered, and they shared a laugh. Some of the tension holding his shoulders in a straight and unforgiving line might have begun to disappear if he hadn’t just spotted Tansy over the restaurateur's shoulder. Tansy, whom he remembered not at all hiring or wanting, but was still here. If Tansy was about, then Jenna was at the party, though he hadn’t caught a glimpse of her yet. She wasn’t in the bedroom when he’d gone to shower, shave and change into a different suit, and she hadn’t been in her office that morning when he went to see her. It had only been Tansy, and Teagan had left, not sure what to even say to the source of the disruption.

Theoretically, he didn’t have a problem with Tansy. He didn’t know her. She seemed a nice young woman, if a little troubled, and Fatima liked her. But Tansy was more than just an assistant, and her arrival compounded further on a problem they’d already been having. Cue the screaming match from a few nights ago and the subsequent silence leading up to tonight.

Now he knew how so many couples could make their lives work without actually loving or knowing each other. He was busy, flat out most of the time. Jenna was likewise overscheduled, and she had more business interests than he had. Her ambassadorship with women’s health causes continued, and it had led to her being offered other patronages. She had her own work, and then she worked for Aurum as well, and Teagan stifled a sigh with a smile as he thought about it. His mind had wandered during the conversation that he could now hear, and he turned back to the woman with the blue hair that was raving about his newest nonvintage sparkling wine.

“It was so light and perfect with oysters on the half shell,” she was saying, beaming up at him. “I couldn’t wait to order a case, but I see I have to be quicker if I want any this year. I was buying it by the bottle and drinking it half as fast. It almost didn’t make it onto the menu.”

“I’m flattered,” Teagan said, and then launched into a sales pitch. By the time he surfaced, the woman had bought enough wine that he wasn’t quite sure if she was running a restaurant or a wine bar, but it hardly mattered. He made the sales on his phone and then moved off, their business done.

It was an hour later when he finally found Jenna, after being waylaid no less than four times. He’d known when she started to work her way around the party, because everyone mentioned Jenna to him, and he could only nod and ask where she’d been last. He stepped into the frigid night air and found her. She was holding court outside, daring in the cold, dark winters of the south, even with her candles and heated seats around the fire pit. Her dress was green velvet, long sleeved and pooling to the floor around her feet, but as he approached her from behind he saw the flash of her skin revealed under stole she wore to keep warm. The dress was backless, dipping to a point so low, she couldn’t have possibly been wearing underwear. The stole wrapped around her shoulders wasn’t fur or anything so gauche, but embroidered silk that made it look as if she were covered in a gentle sparkling whenever the metallic thread caught the firelight. But it was her hair that made him stop and stare. He hadn’t seen her at all today and barely yesterday, but her hair, the long, dark hair that had been spread over the pillows of their shared bed just a week ago was threaded with gold.

She’d mentioned it was a process to change her hair, but he hadn’t wanted to comment on it until it was complete. Teagan just hadn’t realized that these glorious spun layers of gold and copper would be the outcome. If Jenna so much as lost an eyelash, Teagan noticed it. He knew every line of her, each sweet curve, all the moles and scars and freckles on her skin. He wanted to kiss all of them, because it was Jenna. He noticed her all the time. When she came back and her hair was brown rather than black, she’d explained to him that she was changing it, and he let it go, keeping his silence to wait for the finish product. Maybe she thought that space was a sign he hadn’t paid attention or cared, but Teagan had.

“I’ve been looking for you,” he said when the crowd graciously parted to allow him a chance to come to her side. Jenna presented her cheek for him to kiss without any show of resentment, but it wasn’t exactly warm either. It was for show. She was a Cousland, and there was something in her that would rather die a painful death than display a vulnerability at her own party.

“To apologize?” she asked in a barely audible breath. When he frowned at her, Jenna laughed and it almost sounded pleasant, if he hadn’t know why she was laughing. “You’re just going to get over the fact that I have more money than you, and that I do with it what I please,” she said. All of that was delivered in a whisper disguised in a hug, and she wrapped herself around him, stealing warmth and making an outward display of affection for those assembled. Her skin was cool but not cold to the touch, and he automatically pulled her closer to him.

“I can accept that, but can you understand why I don’t want Tansy around?”

Jenna didn’t answer, though he knew she had something else to say to him. She smiled up at him, but it was all wrong. He let her slip out of his arms without any reply. He could wait for her answer. It waited as they schmoozed their guests, and inevitably had to part to sell more wine. He sold a great deal more when Jenna was around, as always and tonight was no exception to that prosperous rule.

People came outside just to see the two of them and to talk, even though there were staff all around the party that could handle transactions and get live updates on the status of their stock on their tablets. It didn’t matter as much as talking to the two of them did, being seen doing business. People braved the cold in clothes completely ill-suited for it just to sit across the fire and ask Teagan his opinion. A year ago, he wouldn’t have been able to even pull this off, but they’d had a waiting list for tickets all year. The fire was built up, more heaters brought out and after an hour and a half it was almost downright cozy out there, except for Jenna. She hadn’t spoken directly to him since he’d posed his question, and Teagan knew she was waiting to get him alone.

But if he didn’t make time, there would be none until they were exhausted and surrounded by nothing but their staff and the empty discards that followed every party. When he had a break in the constant stream of people, he pulled her away. They went back inside, but instead of marching off and making an exit that raised eyebrows, Teagan pulled her into a corner and ran a hand through her hair. It glittered like spun gold as he carded through the large curls that flowed freely to the middle of her torso.

“I like it. It looks like you, but festive for the season,” he announced softly, and Jenna gave in and smiled at him. It was a true smile, one that came so quickly in private and so rarely in public. It made Teagan wary of restarting their aborted conversation from before.

“She’s not her cousin,” Jenna said softly, making the decision for him. “I was once her, I think.”

Teagan sighed, but didn’t refute the point. Jenna had been cast in a terrible light for years, and he didn’t doubt that was what made her feel such kinship towards Tansy.

If he had one major flaw that he always had to be conscious of and work on, it was his inability to adapt to change. He liked to stick to a course and follow through. Jenna was more fluid, not as bound by tradition, and that was why they worked so well together. Old hurts used his traditionalism to stick to him, making it even harder and more painful to accept change. But he knew, not just knew, but by the Maker he had hoped and prayed for her so many times, that Jenna would grow and change. By extension, he had to do the same unless he wanted their relationship to come to a bitter end.

“I’m sorry for being an ass. I know she isn’t Isolde, and you know my problems with her. I just worry. Even though you and Isolde are friends, I find what she did hard to forgive. But I’ve been unfair to Tansy, and to you. Don’t pay her from your own money, I have no problem with employing her.” Teagan stopped, trying to gather his thoughts.

Jenna slid closer to him, looping her arms around his neck and bringing him in for a quick kiss. Teagan tasted cold on her lips still, and he didn’t let her go after the kiss was done. He was forced to look into her eyes, storm grey and ringed with dark, sparkling makeup and false lashes. Her lipstick wasn’t even marred from their kiss; the claret colored softness of her full lips completing the perfect picture of her face. Nothing out of place, but almost too pretty to touch. He admired her sense of theatre and wondered if she wasn’t tired of his lack of it, of how he had to fight to be the politician and salesman he was now.

“The money thing is always going to be a problem for you, isn’t it?” she asked in a whisper, and he wasn’t sure how to respond. It felt incredibly petty and not to mention stupid to answer, _‘Yes, I will always be jealous of your vast millions’_. Not to mention he knew how hard Eleanor Cousland had worked to restore and rebuild their fortunes after the war, and how giving voice to such an insecurity would belittle her hard work. It didn’t exactly sting his pride, but the wealth disparity between them niggled, like a persistent ache that he would just need to learn to live with.

She reached up and pulled him in for another kiss. It was to save him, because he knew Jenna wanted an answer, just not for him to answer here. Her tongue teased his, trying to be light when he could feel the banked heat in her kiss. This wasn’t the time for soft or exploratory kisses. He wanted to pin her against the wall and see if she was wearing anything under that dress, but he knew they couldn’t. A room full of people would be watching out of the corners of their eyes, and tomorrow some internet version of a shitty gossip rag would have a full write up of the night. Teagan pulled back but didn’t end the kiss, just trying to stop himself from going to too far too fast. Lazily, his thumb drew circles on the exposed small of her back, his touch light and grazing. She gasped at the touch, apparently forgetting that her skin was bare that far down and then gave him a sheepish grin as she pulled away.

“It’s an incredible dress,” he said softly, making Jenna giggle.

“Damn, I guess now you’ll want your fifty crowns back,” Fatima said, interrupting them. Jenna’s arms slid down from around his neck and slipped lower into more of a casual embrace so she could turn to face Fatima. His seneschal was standing near them, resplendent in a chocolate colored gown trimmed in gold.

“He came to apologize this morning, you know. I was just humoring you,” Jenna returned and Fatima laughed.

“You bet on me again?” he asked, amused and a little chagrined at the fact that he was so apparently so easy to predict.

“I always bet on you, Teagan, and I always will,” Jenna said, giving him a squeeze around the waist.

“Just so you know, I stopped your new kid from taking a mic from the band and making a show of herself. She wanted to announce something like ‘I’m not the whore you think I am’ to the crowd, but I told her that was a big no here. Not at this. She can do it at the next staff meeting if she needs to get it off her chest in front of an audience.”

“Thank you, Fatima. I’ll go find her,” Jenna said, stepping away from Teagan. He caught her hand in his and didn’t let go, not that she was trying to get away. She stopped before she could rush off, and waited for him. Her face turned to his with a question she didn’t need to voice. Her hand lingered in his, her skin now warmer than his.

“She’s now in my employ. Fatima can follow up and remind her what the rules are when representing the house. I’ll just go welcome her to the staff, since I failed to do so this morning.”

“She called you a bear; said you grunted at her before I got to the office,” Jenna told him on a laugh, but then tilted her head at him and he let go of her hand. “Find me before the end of the party. I’ve saved us a few bottles.”

“Maker, please don’t come to work hungover tomorrow because the two of you decided to spend the night naked on eiderdown pillows drinking the rest of the wine. We have orders to fill before the end of the year and business to transact,” Fatima reminded him.

“If that’s what you do for an after party, the rest of us are going to be very jealous,” said a new voice. Teagan didn’t have to look far to find the owner, but Jenna had her arms wrapped around him before he could make a greeting.

“Dairren, it’s so good to see you. I was so sorry to hear that Landra was still ill. I wasn’t sure you’d make it,” Jenna said, launching into a conversation he had no desire to be part of. He waved at Dairren and Fatima, then set off to find Isolde’s cousin Tansy.

#

The party didn’t run too late, because despite how much gossipmongers and detractors proclaimed it, Jenna wasn’t actually a professional socialite. She worked and Teagan did too, on what was a glorified farm, and did so much charity work that she had need of not just Tansy, but another assistant she had yet to find and hire. It was on her list of things to do. There was so much work waiting for her on the morrow that Jenna almost wished she was a professional socialite somedays.

Teagan was already in bed when she stumbled into the bathroom on sore feet from wearing heels for too long, ready to take off the makeup she’d so expertly had airbrushed on this afternoon. It was almost a shame to take it off, she loved the powdery finish that had worn so well on her skin throughout the night and the way it made her face look flawless, but Jenna was exhausted. When she was clean enough and she’d reluctantly tied back her spun copper and gold locks into a ponytail, she put on her nightgown and went to bed.

As she got into the bed, Teagan rolled closer to cuddle her. His hands found the knots in her shoulders in no time, and for a few minutes they were quiet save for her relieved groans as he eased the tension away. They hadn’t talked much since that stolen moment in the corner of the party, and things were still unsettled between them. Right now, she was tired, achy and just shy of slipping into a deep sleep once his hands stilled their quest to relieve her pain. She might have dropped right off when his hands stopped to warm a spot on her lower back, but Teagan spoke.

“I hate that I’m jealous of it,” he admitted, and she knew immediately he was talking about her money, the big elephant in the room of their relationship. Teagan got upset whenever she tried to mention it, and he paid her far too much for her position. It was his way of showing he could provide for her, she knew, but it didn’t feel right. “Right now, I know that this is what you need,” he continued, as he caressed her back in smooth strokes. He pressed down on a tight spot that made her cry out softly as he worked out the small knot with his thumbs.

“But I want to give you more. I always thought that I could build myself into this super successful man and start solving problems. The way Eamon does. But you don’t need that or my money. Sometimes I struggle with what you need from me.”

“I don’t always know what you need either. You can’t assume that just because you are able to provide me with money or things that’s all I’ll ever need. Sometimes I need this,” she said, sighing as his hands continued their methodical course of relaxation. “But tomorrow will bring something else. Money isn’t always the answer. I don’t even think about it most of the time.”

“Because you don’t have to. I did, and still do. I was so close to bankruptcy when the vineyard first opened. I was turning a profit when we met, but it was all going back into the business. You made me and Aurum a success. I’m not sure if I ever told you how much appreciate that, but it also made me feel insecure and intimidated.” He sighed and went on, “I wish I knew how to banish those feelings, but if I’m honest, I still have trouble even acknowledging them.”

Jenna rolled to face him, sad and so very deeply tired from the night. She kissed Teagan in response, a thoughtful, slow kiss that wasn’t quite eloquent enough, but it was all she could manage tonight. She didn’t know how to explain it to him, how that account full fo cash and stocks and bonds had come at such a high price that she didn’t even want to think about it. It was security of a sort, but her mother had worked all the time when she was a child, and then they sent her away so they could focus on Fergus. They sent her away, as if an account with a seemingly endless balance sheet was all she’d ever need from them until they had the ability to deal with her. People talked, and all the blame got heaped on the person that wasn’t there to defend themselves from the rumors. Jenna came back to Ferelden and no one knew her, everyone knew of her, and her absence explained not at all and filled in with rumor and speculation.

They all needed something from the people they loved. What she wanted was for her mother to go back in time and keep Jenna there with them, let them heal Fergus as a family. But that couldn’t be done, and her parents had apologized for it when she came back. It was that she came back nine years later than they’d planned that prompted the apologies. Right now, she was too tired to figure out what she needed from Teagan, but she knew what she could give him.

“You are enough, Teagan. You’ve always been enough for me. You fill my heart, and I love you so much,” Jenna said. She rolled back to her other side after a few minutes when Teagan didn’t reply. Sleep was oncoming, her own breathing grew deep and even quickly after she shut her eyes. She felt him snuggle up next to her, her back pressed to his chest. If they hadn’t been so close she wouldn’t have been able to hear his late reply.

“I don’t deserve you, Jenna. But I’ll make sure to try harder,” he whispered into her hair, just as she fell asleep.


	2. Exposed and Hidden

_“It looks like our favorite vintner and socialite are steaming things up on their recent vacation. Jenna Cousland and Teagan Guerrin are taking some time away from their work at the massively popular boutique vineyard and winery Aurum, to heat things up at a cozy retreat in the mountains near the Orlais border. Wearing a white bikini that matched their snowy surroundings, Jenna lounged with Teagan until things started to heat up. They were caught together in an intimate scene while spending some time out in the hot tub on the deck, and could be seen earlier in the day enjoying the various luxuries available in their accommodations. The rental they’ve made their short term home is purported to boast six bedrooms and nine baths, a chef’s kitchen and a private pool in the basement. Jenna, 29, has been with Bann Teagan, 37, since her return to Ferelden two years ago after an extended trip abroad…”_

“There’s a nice photo of you with your hands down the back of my bikini, grabbing my ass,” Jenna said, yawning as she lay in bed.

“I’m sure your mother will be thrilled to see it,’ Teagan answered from the other side of the bed. The thing was vast, it was almost like he was in another room altogether. He’d rolled away from her during the night, and so far as she could tell, kept rolling until he was almost at the edge. Even laying there with her arm stretched out, she could just barely brush his side.

“Mother sent it to me. She said she liked your beard in the pictures, all else aside. I don’t think she’s seen you with it grown out before.”

Teagan had his phone out too and was now looking at the article in question. “Well that’s worth a thousand words, isn’t it? We’re going to have to get that for the Santinalia cards for next year. A pity that it’s just passed this year. Maker’s breath, how did they even get that shot?”

He sounded so tired that Jenna rightly decided to ignore his question. They knew how this happened, because it had been almost inescapable since they’d started dating. Not that knowing the truth about long zoom lenses and how much a photo of them together was worth made it any easier to bear. At this point it just was what it was for them, a reality that they didn’t want to deal with but were forced to every day. All of her frustration and the exhaustion at the lack of privacy made her want to cry, but she didn’t. She couldn’t. Whether her tears were all used up or just waiting for something bigger than this minor breach, she didn’t know.

The hot tub had been two nights ago, and the first time since they’d come on vacation that they’d had sex. Not that they’d gone very far outside, although that photo made it look like Teagan was about to ravish her six different ways from Sunday on the patio. He did, but only once they got back inside their vacation home. For starters, they weren’t stupid enough to start fucking outside in the winter while rapidly cooling off from the hot tub, and risking frostbite, but also they did try to be cautious. The camera had managed to catch one moment of passion outside, one that she didn’t even really remember. Teagan so often had his hands on her ass, she couldn’t claim to be at all surprised there was another picture of it. It just felt so deeply wrong that it should be one from a very isolated vacation spot that they were assured was private when they agreed to pay the exorbitant fees.

But it managed to sting in such a different way because they needed this vacation. Teagan had spent the first two days of it sleeping, because he was absolutely exhausted. She’d been so keyed up from all the work she was worried about missing that she couldn’t rest at all, and that night in the hot tub was a chance for them to finally relax together. It wasn’t just a bit of intimacy caught by the cameras, but a piece of their recovery. It felt like it had been stolen from them. Inside her chest, Jenna’s heart felt like it was beating too fast, and her breathing grew shallower. She was anxious, again, one of the problems she’d come here to hoping to diffuse.

Before that night, they hadn’t had sex in over two months. Not shocking for many couples, but it was unlike them. The deep physical connection between them had always come out sexually in the past, but there was just no energy for it now. There had been too much work, and not enough time together. The deadlines and pressures, she couldn’t have even imagined this much work when she met him, because back then the winery was poised for a gentle expansion with a small but devoted following. With her help and infamy, the popularity skyrocketed and demand was absolutely ridiculous, but so were the hours they were obliged to work now. She and Teagan had become two ships passing in the night under the strain of all this work. This grainy, ridiculous photo took their first moment of passion in months and turned it into something to get clicks on their stupid gossip website. Jenna felt her lips firm up and a metallic taste filled her mouth as the thought lingered, turning bitter in her mind and making her angry. Maker, she just wanted a vacation from her own goddamned life.

“I’m going to go see what I can heat up for breakfast,” she said. The rental house came with a chef, but they’d opted for more privacy, a request that made her nearly snort aloud now as she thought of it. The chef had been replaced with pre-made meals, supposedly prepared by the same chef and frozen for convenience. There were no housekeepers around, no staff at all, but there were people they could call for food delivery, emergencies and whatever else might arise.

Who was she supposed to call now when the supposedly impenetrable mountains and privacy fences had failed to do their job? What could possibly give her back that feeling of seclusion she’d so wanted for this trip? She was angry and anxious, and the room around her was getting too small despite the huge bed and the vast amount of space.

#

“I need your help,” Teagan said into his phone after Jenna departed for the kitchen. He talked quickly and quietly, wary of her coming back before he finished his conversation. He too was displeased about the photo of the two of them, but she was so much more worn down and hurt than he. There was always something in him that wanted to make life better for Jenna, but holy Maker, he wasn’t sure what to do now. The only person he could think of to help solve this problem, he was loathe to get involved. This morning it was time to put his fears aside and try to fix this, if he even could.

“You’ll have to pack up and leave if she feels like her privacy has been violated. Jenna can’t rest if she doesn’t feel safe, and neither can you. Let me talk to her. Is she nearby?” Cailan asked on the other end of the phone. He’d sounded sleepy but pleased to hear from Teagan that morning. Cailan yawned into the phone, then laughed at himself as he asked Teagan to forgive his fatigue. It had apparently been a late night beforehand with an ambassador from Antiva, drinking brandy and negotiating. Cailan was quite alone most of the time, despite the assistants, servants, politicians and nobles that always seemed to fill Denerim, determined to have their audience with the king. Teagan felt bad that he hadn’t remembered to check on his nephew more now that he was divorced from Anora. 

That process had been a long time coming, and even now, a year later, it just seemed like Cailan was settling into his newly single life. But if anyone had pointers on how to deal with a ravenous and unceasing press horde, it was King Cailan.

“She’s in the kitchen; I’ll go up there. Look, there’s something else you should know. Yes, Jenna’s tired and it’s been literal years that they’ve been hounding her on and off, but there’s more to it. That photo wasn’t just about us being on what was supposed to be a private vacation. We’re trying to have a baby, or rather, we decided to start trying and that night was our first attempt. The photo is more than just an annoyance, that moment was special, and now it’s all over the internet and the papers. She’s so upset,” Teagan explained.

“And I’m sure you’re not too pleased about it either, but she feels like there’s a target on her back,” Cailan said, summarizing Teagan’s half-hearted attempts at explaining the reason for his call. It felt oddly vulnerable to say all of this aloud, let alone to ask his nephew for help. The words, ‘we want to have a baby’ felt too precious and private to even say to each other above a whisper, and he’d announced it to the king of Ferelden.

“Are you telling people about your family plans yet or should I not mention it?” Cailan asked.

“I, uh, I don’t really know. I probably shouldn’t have said anything,” Teagan began, but Cailan cut him off.

“Then I don’t know for now, but thank you for telling me. Truly, Teagan. Anora and I were on that journey since the day we married, and I can only imagine that it’s lovely when it works out well and quickly, but I know how it feels when it drags on.”

“Have you heard from her?” he asked, and Teagan realized he’d stopped on his journey up to the kitchen. He was standing in a hallway made of tall windows that were covered in frost and ice, painting the glass panes with snowflakes. It was beautiful, and heating below the wood floor ensured it wouldn’t get too cold, but he moved on, away from the windows by instinct. They were told no one could see in, but how much stock could he put the supposed protections of this house and location now?

“Oh yes, Anora invited me to her wedding. I’m happy for her. But I’m a little sad for me. Everyone wants to date the king, Ferelden’s most eligible bachelor, until they realize dating me comes with a nondisclosure agreement and a complete ban on telling anyone for the first three months. I haven’t met anyone that’s made it longer than two.”

“You will,” Teagan said in what he hoped was a reassuring way. “It’s not easy for any of us.”

Cailan laughed unexpectedly at that, and it was a tired sound of surprise rather than true mirth. Teagan wasn’t sure what to make of it, but he’d reached the kitchen. Jenna was sitting on the counter, eating rice pudding from a small bowl, and he smiled at the sight of her. Her bare feet dangled down, kicking at the air like a child in a high chair. He hadn’t realized how much she loved rice pudding until they’d come here, and he found enough of it for her to eat everyday. Apparently her nan used to make it for her growing up, sitting at the table in the kitchen while nan told her stories.

“There’s someone that wants to talk to you, Jenna,” Teagan said, and handed her the phone as she gave him a bewildered look. She set down a nearly empty bowl of pudding, the sound of porcelain clattering against the marble countertops was uncomfortably loud around them.

“Hello?” she asked, and raised an eyebrow at him. Teagan shook his head, and turned to leave the room, to give her a chance to talk privately with Cailan. Then he heard her laugh, the sound of it loud and echoing around the big chef’s kitchen, chasing his retreating footsteps. “King Cailan! Happy almost First Day!” Jenna said into the phone.

#

“I hope you don’t mind the noise,” the pilot said as they boarded the helicopter that took them away from their erstwhile vacation. Jenna didn’t duck as she exited after their relatively short ride, but Teagan did. Her family had a helicopter when she’d been young, and though she’d been much shorter back then, she was used to the downdraft of the rotary spinning. She blinked her eyes to guard them from the floating grit, opening them only to slits so she could keep walking towards the butler that was waiting to greet them.

It took less than two hours for Teagan and Jenna to get packed up in one place and to be someplace completely new. King Cailan had taken care of everything, including creating a temporary press ban for them. It was definitely the kind of privilege that came from being related to the king, but Teagan was his uncle and right now they needed a shield other than the one her parents tried to provide. 

It was a complete protection order Jenna realized, when the King’s Guard came to fly them to Cailan’s private ranch so they could finish their vacation. Teagan wasn’t prideful, but it must have cost him something to ask this of his nephew. She’d started to protest that they didn’t need any help when she’d been on the phone with Cailan, but he’d spoken some truth that resonated with her that it still lingered in her head hours later. He’d said, “The whole world loves it when they can see into your life, without understanding what that does to your private life, and your peace of mind.”

Maker, she’d started to cry when he’d said it, silent tears running down her face. This whole trip was supposed to be this break, and it wasn’t anything close to relaxing. She couldn’t fucking calm down, and just a few words from the king had her sniffling into the phone. She wasn’t sure that she deserved this level of love from Teagan and Cailan, but stepping onto Cailan’s private ranch, which was really just a euphemism for a his own resort, she could only feel relief.

It was a beautiful winter scene here, like she’d gone to the most perfect ski resort, but it was a compound built for the use of the Therrin Family. The mountains around here were cousin to those in Rainesfere, but higher and steeper, the valley lower. In the springtime, this would be beautiful, filled with wildflowers and gorgeous soft green grass, once it stopped raining. They were surrounded by warm wood buildings with stone accenting, and sunlight glaring blue off the snow. She was cold and tired, but so grateful, and gave the butler a warm smile when he ushered them inside and away from the helicopter.

“Welcome, Lord Teagan and Lady Jenna,” he said in a sonorous voice that made her think of Highever. Someone back there had sounded similarly, though she couldn’t place who it was in her mind. “I expect you’ll want to get settled in quickly.”

“Where is His Highness?” Teagan asked, the words too sharp. Jenna glanced nervously over at him, and saw that he wore his tension. She hadn’t even known Cailan was supposed to be here, but Teagan had taken his phone back to continue the conversation after she’d spoken to him. The butler looked untroubled, despite Teagan’s tone of voice and nodded down the hall at a closed door.

“He and his hound are waiting for you in the closest receiving room. Just at the end of the hall.”

Jenna watched Teagan near run to a door, and couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong. Teagan had been quiet and tense, now that she thought on it, but it wasn’t as if they could have had a conversation in the helicopter. Packing had been quick; they hadn’t been there that long, and Cailan’s guards had told her they’d look over the place to make sure nothing had been left behind. She doubted it, but appreciated the extra eyes, since they’d moved swiftly. She thought it had just been the prospect of leaving and the photos making Teagan terse and inattentive, but as the door shut behind him, Jenna realized it was more than that.

The butler was waiting for her to follow Teagan, so she did after thanking him and learning that his name was Simms. She walked through the door to the receiving room just in time to see Teagan hugging a boy. No, it was a young man, taller than Teagan and wider too. Darker of complexion, but his skin tone wasn’t as brown as her own. When they broke apart and he looked around Teagan to greet her with a wide, familiar grin, she felt the world rock under her feet.

“Hi, I’m Alistair. I guess I’m now Prince Alistair, since I’m the heir to the throne and all of that, but since you’re with Teagan you can just call me Alistair. If you don’t mind me saying, you’re taller in person then I expected you to be from the photos online.”

“I get that a lot,” Jenna said, recovering. Maric’s secret son was here? Cailan had put him here, obviously, but for what reason? “I’m Jenna.”

“I know. We do have the internet out here in the Hinterlands. It’s slow, but it works, mostly. This is Warden, my dog, and he’s glad to meet you,” he said as the marbari bounded towards Jenna. Instinctively, she crouched to pet it, careful with the unknown dog, letting him sniff her first.

“It’s nice to meet both of you,” Jenna said automatically, politeness coming as second nature to cover her shock. Teagan hadn’t said anything, and he’d known. This was a secret so deeply ingrained into him to keep, she didn’t think he’d even noticed that he hadn’t said anything about Alistair. His apprehension had been for seeing Alistair again, after what she had to assume was a rough exit from Redcliffe.

“We have much to talk about,” Teagan said, looking between her and Alistair. There was a look in his eyes she might not have been able to place before, but she knew it now as Teagan’s gaze settled on Alistair. It was the same way Teagan looked a babies in carriages or pregnant people in town. It was the same sweet and wistful way he looked when she’d kissed him the other night before the cameras got their latest shot of them together. 

Her man was ready to expand their little family, and he already considered Alistair part of it. Jenna met the eyes of the mabari in front of her, clear and deep whiskey brown, and then looked up to give Warden’s owner a warm smile. Alistair was no more than eighteen by her assessment, and he was busy pretending he hadn’t been watching her.

He was lonely, that much was clear, but he was curious and there was literally nothing else out here for him besides whatever training the guards did and the tutors Cailan had seen fit to provide. Likely not much, since Alistair had come from the Chantry. He blushed at her smile, and she saw less of Cailan and more of the Chantry boy that he’d been forced to become, awkward and unused to interacting with women. 

“Do you live here?” she asked, careful to keep her voice neutral as she petted the dog. 

“Yes, I do now. I used to be in the Chantry and all of that. Boring stuff really. Did you really jump out of a plane over Antiva?” he asked, and Jenna laughed. Apparently slow or not, the internet did work here. There were so many stories of her from her time abroad, trusted friends and people that hadn’t quite been acquaintances that gave up small snippets of tales about her for a quick cash grab, that a search of her name brought up new tales daily. 

“It was the Anderfels,” Jenna corrected, and Alistair laughed as if she’d made the greatest joke. “And I’ve done it more than once. Teagan has too.”

“Just the once for me,” Teagan clarified as Alistair’s head swung towards him, mouth open in disbelief, “and it’s because I lost a bet to her.”

“I went with him; it’s not like I made you go alone, Teagan. We jumped tandem, so we would be together. I’m starved, Alistair,” Jenna said, betting that it would be better to treat him as if he knew everything there was to know about the ranch. “Where do we eat around here?”

“I eat with the guards garrisoned here,” he explained quickly. “There’s usually no one else around unless King Cailan is in residence. But we can have lunch together. There’s a dining room, and then a dining hall, but also a movie theatre where they’ll bring the food. It’s up to you.” He said his brother’s name so deferentially that Jenna felt her heart break a little. It was as if the king were a stranger, not family. It felt wrong to her, especially since she’d just been talking and joking with him not too long ago on the phone.

“Show us around, Alistair,” Teagan said, nodding at the door. He called his dog with a whistle and it bounded to his side. Alistair bent to touch the dog’s head without thought, then stood up and opened the door for them. He held it for Jenna, but he lowered his eyes, still shy, when she walked through it.

Alistair was all limbs he hadn’t quite grown into or gotten used to yet, still packing on muscle and probably eating more food than half the garrison combined. There was so much about him that resembled Cailan that there could be no doubt that they were biologically related. Despite the outward resemblance Alistair was different, sweeter than his brother could have ever been, since Cailan had always thought of himself as the king in some capacity. Maybe this was the way she and Fergus appeared, one groomed to duty, and the other left to just grow up. While she’d leaned into her wildness for a time, Alistair had it disciplined out of him. Maybe she’d have grown up sweeter too under the guidance of the sisters, though she suspected it might have made her wilder and more headstrong. Maker, thinking about it made sending her abroad seem like it made sense.

“How did you meet Bann Teagan?” he asked her, formal once more as they walked.

“He used to smoke hash with my stupid brother Fergus,” Jenna answered, and Alistair snorted with laughter in the hallway. Teagan gave her a look, and Jenna smiled as she rolled her eyes at him. It would do Alistair no harm to know how Teagan was when he was younger, and it made her smile to hear his snorting chuckles. When Alistair stopped laughing she added, “But then I met him again because Arl Eamon had a horse I wanted to buy for my father to make up from being away from home for a decade.”

“Arl Eamon,” Alistair said, seizing on the name and not the fact that she’d been gone for a decade. Alistair’s tone lost all of its lightness as he spoke. “He’s not coming is he?”

“No, he won’t be joining us,” Teagan answered.

“Good. Not that I don’t like him, well, you know,” he said, shrugging to fill in the words he couldn’t articulate. “It’s complicated. I just don’t want to see him or his wife again. Let’s get on with the tour so I, or rather we can eat,” Alistair said, and walked ahead of them.

She didn’t need to ask why not, but it filled her with the same kind of hot, impotent rage she’d felt that morning, looking at the photo of her and Teagan. Could she hug Alistair? She wondered if he would welcome it or if it would only confuse him, make him resentful when she inevitably had to leave. Just another thing she could do nothing about, at least not right now.

#

Teagan wanted Alistair to come back to Rainesfere with them when they left, and now he was on a video call with Cailan trying to plead his case. Jenna concurred; she’d agreed with him that first night when they’d got there. It wasn’t just that he wanted Alistair to feel like he had a home, it was the right thing to do, the thing he should have done years ago.

“Teagan, don’t go adopting my wayward brother just because you want a child,” Cailan cautioned, giving him an exasperated look. “Alistair’s grown now anyway. He doesn’t need anything more than he’s got.”

“We think he does. Jenna agrees with me on this. At least, we think he should be given the chance to decide on his own. As you say, he’s grown, so I could ask him directly, but I know he won’t go against the wishes of his brother and king,” Teagan argued.

Over the course of a week, Teagan had spent his time either with Jenna and Alistair or checking in on the winery. Alistair had taken to Jenna, and the two of them were bonded. It was more like she was his older sister than a motherly figure. Teagan was filled with a strange mixture of pride and animosity, pride that Jenna was so good with Alistair, and so patient and kind, but the anger Teagan felt towards his brother and Isolde had come bubbling to the surface. Eamon hadn’t been anything more than someone that provided the bare necessities for a boy, and then banished him after allowing Isolde’s cruelty. He always had trouble with it, especially when it came to his relationship with Isolde, but now he was angry at both of them in equal measure.

“He’s never had a real home, Cailan,” Teagan said, and some of that anger started to seep into his tone. He tried not to let it show on his face. “Forgive me for saying so, but Eamon hardly provided him with anything and by his own words, Alistair hated the Chantry. Let him come back with us, and if he doesn’t like it, he can return here.”

“Teagan, I don’t like this, but I’ll leave it to Alistair. He’s free to stay or go, if he so chooses. I just need to know he’s safe, since he is my heir now.” Cailan heaved a heavy sigh on the other end of the phone. It made him sound tired, but he was grinned at Teagan. “Speaking of, I should be off. I have another arranged date. This one’s Nevarran, but distant from the throne.”

Cailan’s mind was already elsewhere, and Teagan wasn’t sure if he was relieved that he’d given in, or offended that a date seemed more pressing to King Cailan than the fate of his own brother. Alistair wasn’t an official heir, because he’d never been acknowledged by Maric or Cailan as being of the blood. so calling him an heir was just a way for Cailan to control the boy.

“I’ll let Alistair decide, Teagan, but do let me know either way. You don’t need to call, just send me a message. Enjoy the rest of your vacation,” Cailan said, and Teagan said his goodbyes and hung up.

It all felt rather too easy, like Teagan had asked Cailan for the loan of a prize horse or dog instead of trying to give a home to a young man that hadn’t ever had one before. Dismayed, Teagan sat staring at the blank face of his phone, until Jenna came into the room. She startled him out of his disquiet thoughts, and he had no idea how much time had passed when she came in. Jenna looked better now that they were here at the ranch, more rested and refreshed, and she enjoyed having more protection and people around. The seclusion they’d sought before at the other place would never come to pass here, but they’d traded a small bit of their privacy for the chance to be surrounded by forces that kept them secure and safe. He could take that.

“What did King Cailan say?” Jenna asked when she came in. She sat down next to him on the bed, and Teagan leaned into her side. 

“He said it was up to Alistair. What’s he doing?”

“There’s a hockey game going on with some of the guards. I thought it might be a good time for us to be alone,” she said, and put her head on his shoulder.

“I know we’ve probably missed our window this trip,” Teagan started, but Jenna cut him off.

“There will be other chances. Every month there’s a new chance. But no one says we can’t practice even when the fertility window is closed. You never know,” she said, grinning at him. Her hand was hot on his thigh, and when had it landed there? He hadn’t even been paying attention, distracted as he was by Alistair and Cailan, but Jenna’s hand was under his shirt, fingers drawing lines over his skin. When she sat across his lap, he looked up into her grey eyes and pulled her into a kiss that quieted all of his other thoughts.

#

“So you and Teagan want me to come visit with you after this?” Alistair asked her, confused. Jenna shook her head at him, but then nodded after she’d reconsidered, not doing much to dispel Alistair’s confusion.

“We’d like you to come back to Rainesfere with us after this trip, but not for a visit. We wanted to know if you’d like to stay with us,” Jenna said, trying to explain again. “You have a choice, and we can’t make you come if you’d rather stay here, but both Teagan and I would really love for you to come back and try living at the vineyard with us.”

“Yes,” Teagan added swiftly. “We realize it will be an adjustment, but you’d always be free to leave if it didn’t suit you.”

“You two want me to live with you? Both of you? I thought you wanted to have a baby?” Alistair asked, looking from Teagan to Jenna. He wasn’t exactly jumping for joy at their suggestion, but he hadn’t turned them down flat either. She liked these negotiations, it showed good judgement on his part.

“Who told you that?” Teagan asked, but Jenna put a hand over his on the table. Alistair sat back in his seat, slumping, arms crossed over his chest.

“I did. He asked me where we kept disappearing to, and I told him we were trying to conceive.” Even under Teagan’s grimace, Jenna stood her ground. “Honesty is always the best policy in things like this. Yes, I’d like to have a baby with Teagan. No, that doesn’t mean we don’t want you to come stay. Neither of us knows how long it could take to actually have a baby, Alistair. I could find out I’m pregnant in a month or two years from now. But we’d still like you to see if you’d like to stay in Rainesfere. If nothing else, there’s more people around for you to get to know, and you’d get a job at the vineyard.”

“And you two would get more guards,” Alistair said, looking straight at her. Maker, he was perceptive, even when he gave off the teenage air of sullen disinterest. 

“I suppose we would,” Teagan admitted, “but that was never a factor for me. I saw what Isolde did, how she treated you, and I’m so sorry. I wasn’t able to take you then, but I wanted to. I can now, if you can forgive me enough for my inaction back then to give me a chance.”

“We _want_ you, Alistair. If you want to come stay with us, we want you to come, for as long as it suits you and Warden. If that’s for a few years, then we’ll make sure that King Cailan knows where to send your mail,’ Jenna said, and held her breath.

“I don’t know,” Alistair said. He was gazing down at the table, not at either of them. “Let me think about it.”

He got up from the remains of their dinner that sat on the table, and left without anything further, his dog trotting behind him. Teagan put his head down, but Jenna watched the door until she was sure he’d left. His heavy footsteps down the hall faded into silence, and she turned to Teagan. “He knows that we care, that we want him. That’s all we can do for now. He has the right to decide on his own.”

“I wish that had been an enthusiastic yes,” he said.

“It’s a lot to think about. You and I have been discussing it since we got here, but he hasn’t had the time. Let him digest it.”

Teagan sat up, and let Jenna pull him close. She suspected that they’d have an answer in the morning from Alistair. Whether or not it was what they wanted to hear, there was no indication either way from what she’d seen. She just had to trust that her policy of being open and honest with the boy all week had paid off.

Tonight she’d distract herself, be the same kind of friendly she’d been the whole past week with Alistair if he sought her out, and try not to think too much more about their dinner conversation. It was the only to keep herself from hoping too much, because even though Teagan had a longer investment, she was just as deep in as he was at this point. She wanted to adopt Alistair, and give him just a few precious years where he could go from boy to man in a home with stability and love, and maybe be a big brother to the children she wanted to have. The more she thought about that little piece of perfection, whenever she slipped and let herself daydream, it hurt to wake up from it. Jenna could see it so clearly, as if she were seeing the future and not the imaginings of her heart.

She leaned over and kissed Teagan’s temple, and got up from the table. She’d go for a walk in the snow, tire herself out and then make it an early night.

#

Alistair didn’t come to breakfast the next morning, and Teagan couldn’t eat. Jenna was fretting silently over her rice pudding. They’d recovered the food that had been left behind at their rental, and Jenna was still knee deep in pudding, though Alistair had been doing his part to clear it out every morning except this one. Jenna gave Teagan a desperate look over her breakfast, and he stopped pretending to eat. Even Warden hadn’t come for the morning meal, and Teagan made his way through the maze of halls down to Alistair’s room.

His knock was answered with a shout that bade him enter. He found Alistair in the middle of what looked like a pile of socks. It was socks, Teagan concluded as he got closer. Many of them had ‘Alistair’ stitched into them inexpertly, and Alistair was sorting through them, folding some into pairs and tossing others out..

“I don’t have much stuff, but it was more than I thought. I’ve been packing,” he said, and grinned over at Teagan. “I’m going with you.”

“That’s just wonderful. Wonderful, Alistair. I can’t wait to tell Jenna,” he said, almost stumbling over the words. ‘She’ll be so happy.” He went over and hugged Alistair, and let that speak for him instead. Something that had been wrong for so many years was finally starting to right itself, and it fluttered in his chest. It felt like the day Jenna asked him if they could finally try for children, or that winter’s night a few years ago when she’d given him the best surprise of his life. It felt like hope, with all the fragility and uncertainty that comes with it, especially when it's shared between three people.


	3. Confirmation Bias

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sex trope -- Surprise Pregnancy  
> This may become canon for the two of them, but I have yet to further explore their family planning.

Jenna was so tired, which wasn’t different from most days to be honest, but this was fatigue of a different sort. She knew her body, and they’d been trying for so long that she’d known after about a week of ongoing symptoms. She’d known before she’d even gone to buy the stupid test. It was only a surprise that it had finally happened after so long. It had been years since she and Teagan took that vacation where they’d been all primed to try for a baby and came home with a teenager. 

She had to tell Teagan, because he’d noticed too, but also because he was standing outside the bathroom door. Last night she’d gotten the test, remembered rather than read the instructions and then decided to wait until morning so it could be the most accurate. Teagan got up this morning, dressed for work while she’d struggled to find the energy to sit upright, and then thrust the box at her. They used to keep a supply of them, when they’d started. Years ago, it had seemed prudent, but later on it’d become a waste of money. He was as surprised as she was the night before when she’d announced that she needed to pop over to the chemist’s because her period was running late.

“What’s it say?” Teagan asked, not bothering to wait outside once he heard her flush the toilet. He was standing in the doorway as she washed her hands, and Jenna shrugged.

“It takes a few minutes for it to come up.”

“I’d forgotten about the wait,” he admitted.

She brushed her teeth as they waited, her still in her pajamas and messy hair, and him already dressed in his suit for the day’s work. Teagan still had his beard, but these days it had less red in it, the lighter strands were the first to turn white. His beard and temples were peppered with signs of distinction that were in no small part due to the constant scrutiny they’d received for years until an interdiction from King Cailan forced the press to let up. She was likewise aged but was otherwise unchanged, though she took on the pains of keeping her hair colored to cover the grays the last few years had brought her.

They both went over to the test on the marble counter at the same time and looked down. Jenna couldn’t stop looking at the word “Pregnant” on the tiny display screen, disbelieving the result even though the physical signs were all there. When she looked up at herself in the mirror, she wasn’t sure who she was seeing. The woman looking back at her looked wan and tired and happy, and Jenna wasn’t sure when the happiness had attached itself to her. Teagan met her eyes in the mirror, and then he smiled too. It was a cautious thing, so fragile that neither wanted to speak, but then Jenna decided to chance it. She reached up and pulled him into a kiss that was decidedly celebratory, without ever saying a word.


End file.
